Center joint



AMarch 7,. 1939. R. R, ROBERTSON CENTER JOINT Filed April 14, 1957ROBERT RI RDRTSON Patented Mar. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES` PATENT OFFICECENTER JOINT Application April 14, 1937, Serial No. 136,725

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a road center joint and more particularly, toa sealed longitudinal center joint provided with load transmittingmeans. The improved joint is so constructed,

5 that upper and lower plate sections are rigidly disposed on oppositesides of a transverse seal plate, which is grooved to reinforce the sameand which, furthermore, has the marginal edges cut away or notched toprovide anchoring members,

l which are embedded in the slabs on opposite sides of the center jointfor tying the opposite sides of the road together and permitting loadsto be transmitted from one side of the road to the other through theseal plate.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simplified form of roadcenter joint wherein an intermediate transverse member is formed toserve as a seal as well as a means for transmitting loads from one sideof the joint to the other.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a center joint, whereinjoint plate members are positioned in the same' plane on opposite sidesof a transverse plate, having anchoring means formed thereon wherebyloads applied to one side of the road may be transmitted through thejoint to the opposite side of the road.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a road centerjoint wherein anged members of upper and lower joint plates are weldedor otherwise rigidly secured to a transverse reinforced loadtransmitting plate provided with anchoring means for embedding in theconcrete on opposite sides of the joint.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawing.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawing andhereinafter more fully described.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a road center joint embodyingthe principles of this invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the joint illustrated inFigure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical detail section takenthrough the center joints embedded between the concrete road slabs.

As shown on the drawing:

The improved center joint comprises a joint forming mechanism adapted tobe supported upon a road sub-grade l and is then embedded in concretewhich forms road slabs 2 and 3 on opposite sides of the joint formingmechanism.

The center joint is constructed of sheet metal and comprises a sheetmetal upper plate 4, the lower margin of which is deected outwardly atrightv angles to form a flange 5. Positioned in the plane of the topplate 4 is a bottom: plate 6, the upper margin of which is deected atright 5 angles to provide a ange l. The flanges 5 and 'l of the upperand lower plates 4 and 6 respectively, as clearly illustrated in Figure3, project in opposite direction and are rigidly secured by means ofwelding or the like to opposite sides 10 of a transverse seal plate 8which projects substantially at right angles to the upper and lowerplates 4 and 6 respectively. As clearly illustrated in Figure 3, theupper and lower plates with the integral flanges thereof form anglemembers which are reversed and inverted with respect to one another andare secured to the longitudinal middle portion of the seal plate 8between longitudinally formed reinforcing ribs 9. The longitudinalmargins of the seal plate 8 are cut out 20 at I0 to form outwardlyprojecting anchoring lugs or blades Il, the outer ends of which arewider than the inner ends to provide tapered constructions, whereby theanchoring blades may be rigidly held anchored in the concrete road slabs2 and 3 of the road.

The transverse plate 8 extends throughout the entire length of thecenter joint forming unit and serves as a seal between the upper andlower plate members of the joint to prevent moisture and foreign matter,entering the top of the joint, from passing downwardly through theentire joint.V In a similar manner, water and foreign material isprevented from passing upwardly from the bottom of the joint by means ofthe transverse seal plate 8.

'I'he transverse seal plate 8, being provided with anchoring lugs orblades l l on the margins thereof, serves as a means for tying the slabson opposite sides of the joints together, so that when 40 loa-ds areapplied to either side of the road, the loads are transmitted throughthe anchoring blades Il and the main body portion of the seal plate 8 tothe opposite side of the road.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of constructionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention, and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a center joint for embedding between adjacent concrete road slabs,a joint forming mechanism comprising upper and lower plate sectionsdisposed in substantially the same plane and having supporting flangesintegrally formed thereon with the flange of one plate projecting in adirection opposite from the flange on the other plate, a seal platedisposed between the flanges of the upper and lower plates and rigidlysecured to said flanges, and anchoring members thereon to be embedded inthe concrete on opposite sides of the joint.

2. In a center joint for embedding between adjacent concrete road slabs,a joint forming mechanism comprising a ribbed seal plate embedded in theconcrete on opposite sides of the joint, anchoring blades formed on thelongitudinal margins of the seal plate and also embedded in the concreteslabs, upper and lower joint plates disposed in the same plane andpositioned at substantially right angles to the seal plate, and flangeson the upper and lower joint plates secured to opposite sides of themiddle portion of the seal plate between the ribs thereof.

3. A road center joint comprising upper and lower angle plate sectionsreversed and inverted with respect to one another, a seal plateseparating the angle plate sections and rigidly secured thereto,reinforcing ribs provided in the seal plate on opposite sides of theangle plate sections, and anchoring members formed on the longitudinalmargins of the seal plate.

4. A road center joint forming mechanism comprising upper and lowerplate members, a seal plate disposed at substantially right angles tothe upper and lower plate members and separating the same, reinforcingribs integrally formed on the seal plate on opposite sides of the upperand lower plate members, and anchoring blades integrally formed atspaced intervals on the longitudinal margins of the seal plate.

5. A road center joint comprising a seal plate having reinforcing ribsformed longitudinally thereon, said seal plate having the marginsthereof cut away to leave anchoring blades, main joint plates disposedon opposite sides of the seal plate and provided with mounting flangesrigidly secured to the seal plate between the reinforcing ribs.

ROBERT R. ROBERTSON.

